Patron Spotlight: Zavier of Guiding Creations

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For this month’s Patron Spotlight, we get to take a deep dive into the creative mind of Zavier Bates, published author, philanthropist, and TTRPG gamer extraordinaire! Zavier is so creatively accomplished, it’s difficult to find a place to begin. In his own words, “I got my first break at writing when I was 17, getting published in an urban fantasy novel. Since then, I have been extensively writing and getting more into this crazy game called D&D!”. In fact, three out of the four books that Zavier has currently published are D&D content and for sale on DMs Guild.

As tabletop gaming is, at its heart, a social activity, it comes as no surprise that Zavier has developed many strong connections through collaborative work over the years. One of his favorite works, Hellbound Heists, was his very first opportunity to create content with other authors, though he also has work that was entirely self-driven and published, as well.

“Forgotten Gifts was my first solo work where I did the art, layout, writing, editing, and publishing,” he says. “The inspiration comes from mostly a place of passion”. It’s clear that Zavier can play well with others, but it’s equally evident that he is definitely up to the task of creative heavy lifting, often performing multiple roles in the process of creation. 

That social connection and collaboration has also led Zavier down the path of philanthropy within the gaming community. He began volunteering with gaming conventions at a very young age, and is currently the VP of the Wyoming Gaming Library, a 501c3 non-profit that provides no-cost gaming resources to schools, hospitals, and communities in need across the state of Wyoming. If you would like to support the Wyoming Gaming Library in bringing gaming resources to communities in Wyoming, you can visit their Facebook page here.

Zavier rounds out this herculean creative resume with a successful consulting business, Guiding Creations, where he can provide guidance and feedback for tabletop games that are in development as well as serve as a creative consultant for authors, youtubers, event organizers, artists, musicians, and other charities. “It was at Genghis Con that a vendor came up to me, asking if I could act as a consultant for her upcoming board game,” he says. “So Guiding Creations was born! Now, I use GC for my professional writing, editing, consulting, designing, and even event planning”.

While COVID-19 has put a halt to our collective convention plans for 2020, you can still connect with Zavier and his work online. You can browse his currently published works at DMs Guild, (he's provided a link to get 20% off of "Forgotten Gifts"!) or engage his consulting and creative services directly through his Facebook Page.